How Much Lift Variation Do You Need?
Banded-chain-deficit-Rack Pulls.
1.5, close-grip, tempo, block, chain Bench press.
We’ve all seen the circus variations at some point, whether we’ve done them ourselves or stared confusingly at an Instagram video.
Variation is an interesting & somewhat polarizing topic in Powerlifting. The Westside/Conjugate die-hards will preach its importance forever, casually slapping on three different alterations from SBD to a given lift, swearing it will help build their competition movements.
Starting Strength purists will denote that you “just need to train SBD as often as possible,” repeat those same lifts forever, and “add 5 lbs every week.”
Of course, each example is extreme- and both can have valuable applications. The truth is that geared & equipped, high-level Powerlifters can benefit from more of these crazy variations and incorporating accommodating resistance. Brand-new lifters must repeat the basic lifts themselves, building consistency and technique. Beyond that, there's more gray area.
Variation plays a role in strength development, yet preserving specificity is also essential. When you’re lifting without wraps/suits, your sticking points are most likely out of the hole/off the chest/off the floor (or close by), and in these cases, those will likely always be your sticking points- you just need to get stronger. Adding in bands or chains won’t necessarily change that. Yet, there’s something to be said for staleness- too much repetition without any alterations can breed stagnation- once you reach a certain point in your career. That said, there are other ways to apply variation: set/reps, percentages used, rest periods, etc., which can also help you break plateaus.
To be expounded on further, the bottom line is that exercise selection plays one role in your strength gains but will not entirely make or break your progress. Some variation is likely helpful and necessary, but it also depends on the types of variation used. The goal is to maximize specificity while also ensuring continual progress.
Factors Influencing Exercise Selection: Experience Level
The first factor in determining how much variation you require is how advanced an athlete you are. First-time athletes have no business performing Chain squats, Banded Deadlifts, Slingshot presses, etc. It’s just unnecessary.
Generally speaking:
Spend your first six months of lifting on the basic comp variations.
These lifts include high-bar squats, moderate-grip bench presses, and Conventional deadlifts. Of course, there’s some individuality here (lifters looking to compete may switch to Low Bar, Close or Wide grip may feel more comfortable to some, Sumo may suit an athlete’s body better or help them get through back pain, etc.)- but you’re looking to train the most fundamental movement patterns, without intentionally adding on technical changes to push more weight. We want to develop potential weaknesses early on, focus on training through a decent range of motion, and then make changes when there’s reason to.
Here, training should include a moderate frequency of each lift, practicing the movements & aiming to get stronger in them (adding weight as often as every session), along with basic accessory movements. That’s not to say that you can't vary your lifts at all, but at this stage, the purpose of alterations is to improve technique/body awareness- since it’s not a necessary tool to get stronger, per se. The “newbie” stage lasts anywhere from 6 months to 1 year of consistent strength training, and your body will adapt very quickly, which is why rapid progression occurs. Helpful variations could include tempos, pauses, Front Squats, etc.- something that closely mimics the original lift but with more of a technical challenge. That way, the integrity of this phase is maintained: develop as efficient & reliable a technique as possible.
Intermediate Stage: 1-5+ years:
During this time, plateaus ensue. You can no longer make the same fast-paced progress you did early on in your lifting career- your lifts may undergo further technical changes, more periods of uncertainty & inconsistency begin to arise, and you introduce other tools. That’s part of the reason it doesn’t make sense to use variation too early- it decreases the efficacy of using it when you eventually need it. As an intermediate, different lift variations can provide a novel stimulus, help your brain profoundly connect to the movement, and support your needs in many training phases. At this point, you may have developed specific strength deficits- requiring a different stimulus. As a raw lifter, especially closer to a meet (more on that later), your priorities should remain on SBD variations, but there’s more room for other tools. An SSB squat, different grips, legless Bench, opposite-stance deadlifts, Deficits, etc. can serve a purpose. These variations should be chosen with the athlete in mind- with reasoning to support them- and, for the most part, as secondary variations. Intermediate Powerlifters should still, generally speaking, perform their primary lifts at all times, with those holding the priority in training. Secondary variations can be programmed afterward or on opposing days.
Advanced Stage: >5 years of Training:
As an advanced lifter, your needs for variation are the highest. You are the most “special Butterfly” you’ll ever be, requiring more individualized programming, exercise selection, and specifications to continue supporting your strength gains. Overload tools, specialty bars, and less-specific versions of the lifts play the greatest role here. You may cycle multiple movements throughout the week, maybe even changing them more frequently than an intermediate lifter, doing a few variations in the same training day, and overall just using these tools more often. For an intermediate athlete, variations are supplemental and used more sparingly, and for advanced athletes, it can become a more typical aspect of your training program. This point is not to say that advanced Powerlifters should perform drastically different-from-competition exercises or avoid our fundamental movement patterns (they still make up our sport)- but the argument for some of these tools is far greater than less-experienced lifters. Here, individuality, experience, and variety have a larger component in training than other athletes.
2. Proximity to Competition
Another determining factor in the degree of variation is how close you are to a meet. Once you begin competing, your programming tailors to fit your needs as an athlete. Your training periodizes according to competition season, off-season, and everything in between. Each exercise is chosen to address your current needs, to lift the most weight possible on the platform- however close or far that may be. When closer/further out from a meet, your needs differ.
It makes sense that you need less variation closer to a meet, and more can be sensible further out. There aren't bands or specialty bars in competition, so relying on these tools closer to meet day is illogical. Your needs will be the most specific four weeks out and the least specific 16+ weeks out. These are two definitively different training phases.
What is “specificity?” In terms of Powerlifting, put literally, it’s your SBD singles. Specificity describes how close your training is to sport, with the modalities used. For us, those variables include volume, intensity, exercise selection, rest times, etc.
When you’re peaking, the goal is to replicate the qualities you’ll produce on the platform- maximal strength in the comp lifts, so much of your training will be focused on singles/doubles in your SBD movements. Earlier in prep, you may use a variation on secondary days- but to improve your comp lifts (technical efficiency or develop weaknesses), with the priority remaining on your primary squat, bench, and deadlift.
Further out from a meet, more variation is necessary- to keep training engaging, develop other qualities, provide a novel stimulus, etc. An “off-season” or “development phase”'s purpose is to address needs that can become neglected during meet prep but support your strength long-term. In this application, choose variations that are conducive to your goals: don’t just throw chains everywhere for the sake of it. But if you’re in a muscle-building phase, for example, utilizing more SSB/High Bar squats or Close-grip Bench presses- to develop your quads/triceps- makes sense.
These considerations apply to Intermediate/Advanced athletes since, again, Beginners only need to train the main lifts- and probably aren’t at the stage of doing multiple meets.
In sum:
The closer you are to competition, the less variation is called for, with most specific needs being ~4 weeks out, followed by 8-12, respectively. Focus your training around your comp lifts and close-to-comp selections.
The further out from the competition you are, the more variation can be introduced, with the lowest specificity needed at 16+ weeks out, followed by 12-16, etc. Even in this instance, choose variations that align with your long-term plan. Work backward from your next meet, address the areas that need addressing, and program accordingly.
3. Underlying Weaknesses
A primary argument for some of these variations is to build up so-called “weaknesses.”
This argument holds some merit: if your quads are severely under-trained compared to other areas, utilizing more quad-focused variations would theoretically make you stronger. The evidence for this case is somewhat limited, though (as is for Programming in general), and is mostly derived from old-school Powerlifting principles.
I will not say that weaknesses don’t exist and certain variations can’t improve them. I will say that lifters get too hung up on which portion of the lift is weakest- and look to variations to “fix the issue,” when really it’s something else (spoiler: it’s usually nutrition or technique related).
Rather than proclaiming that your “lockouts are weak,” “your mid-range is weak,” or “you’re weak out of the hole,” so you need block pulls/overhead presses/SSB squats, take a look at your fucking technique.
Maybe your lockouts are weak because your back rounds immediately when you pull, which no amount of block pulls (alone) could fix.
Maybe your mid-range is weak on your bench press because your scapular position isn’t as good as it could be, your bar path is off, and you fail to maintain stacked joints during the rep.
Maybe you’re weak out of the hole because you’re a raw lifter, and that’s where you’re working the hardest against gravity, which will always be the “weakest" portion.
In this case, a) analyzing your form during your lifts and trying different cues to improve, and b) choosing variations that inherently help increase body awareness & better movement patterns (such as a pause, eccentric, etc) would be your solution.
Remember that everyone will have a sticking point during a lift. When you’re pushing maximal weights, it’ll feel hard & you will struggle. That’s what you signed up for. Focus on training your lifts to get stronger.
Another argument is, are these so-called “weaknesses” so severe that they hinder you from improving? Do we always need to “attack weaknesses,” or is building your strengths more effective?
Every lifter has a style of technique that’s most effective and efficient for them, and you want to apply that in this sport. Adapt your training to allow you to use your strengths to the greatest extent possible. For most athletes, simply focusing on getting stronger rather than overanalyzing which muscles are stronger or weaker is all they need.
If you have a pattern of failing a lift at the same spot every time- despite consistent training and technical improvement- you’ve spent many months drilling it all in, with competitive experience- that’s worth addressing. But for most newer athletes, it’s technique-related- which is a separate issue to improve.
If you have a legitimately identified weakness in your lifts, choosing variations that target that- will support you. Getting more comfortable in less advantageous positions and learning how to break through them- that’s all important, Again, I’m not denoting the existence of these issues, I’ve seen them before. I just think the sentiment can be overstated and potentially misleading- to lifters who are better off paying attention to other things.
TLDR: don’t go looking for “supposed weaknesses” in your lifts, and then picking all the variations that could theoretically improve them. Choose general variations that help you develop technique, strength, hypertrophy- all the qualities we need; train to make your movements as efficient as possible, and if you notice a significant weakness arise at some point, then it’s worth addressing.
Balancing Specificity & Variety
Programming is both an art and a science. It can be both confusing & difficult- to effectively toe the line between “too specific” and “not specific enough.”
Powerlifting is a unique sport in that- it’s one where we have a lot of control- over our training, gym schedule, the numbers we lift on meet day, etc. We can manipulate the variables and use ourselves as guinea pigs to determine what works.
Earlier, I touched on the needs of athletes in different phases of their careers and how that will influence exercise selection. But, when we’re speaking generally, how does one know whether their training is too varied?
I typically prefer the lowest variation necessary, introducing more when there’s a reason to. If we’re discussing Powerlifting development, build your program around the comp lifts.
For off-season (~3 months post-meet), there’s a benefit to including more variety- to help prevent burnout, keep training engaging, and allow the lifter to focus on something else.
For high-level athletes, more variation is conducive.
Here are some general rules to help avoid the overapplication of variation:
Choose one, max two things to change about a lift at once. When closer to a meet- 1 change is probably all you need to make. This rule will preserve specificity. (“Pause” bench, “High Bar” Squat, “Deficit” Deadlift as examples). During other times, two changes may be used, (“Close Grip” “Legolas” Bench, “Opposite stance” “paused” deadlift, “Close stance” “High Bar” Squat), etc. Generally, accommodating resistance/specialty bars is the only factor you need to change (since they're far from competition lifts), and you can always incorporate tempo. This principle allows you to follow the continuum of specificity across different periods.
Manipulate variables other than exercise selection. There are many ways to change an exercise aside from altering the movement. When you’re looking for variation, change the set/rep scheme. Maybe add an AMRAP, a drop set, a timed set, back-offs or fatigued work, etc. Go for higher reps, lower reps, and rep ranges. Shorten the rest time. You can do a lot with the same lifts while manipulating these factors.
Build variations for multiple months at a time. Rather than drastically changing your lifts every 3-4 weeks, choose to build them for 6-12 weeks at a time (such as your High Bar or your Opposite Stance Deadlift). Training this way allows you to truly master the movement, get something out of it, and derive the application to your main strength movements, rather than throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks.
Keep your main lifts in your program for good, during the majority of training phases. Don’t be swapping your comp squats out entirely, most of the time.
For raw athletes, I don’t see a significant purpose in extreme variation. I think that, in most cases, it does more harm than good. Consider this. What is your sport composed of? The squat, bench press, and deadlift. As an athlete without excessive, additional gear- you benefit most from practicing the lifts you compete with. In simplest terms, you don’t get better at something by not doing it. You have to expose yourself to it over and over. Can there be too little variation? Yes, only maxing out your SBD year-round won’t provide the best results. But often, we get caught up in all the complexities while forgetting the basics. Train predominately: the main movements & ones similar, prioritize them, and seek to build those as much as possible. That’s what makes you a great athlete.
